Postal III

Postal III is a third-person shooter developed by Trashmasters and Running with Scissors, and published by Akella. It is the third game in the Postal series, being the sequel to Postal 2, telling the story of The Postal Dude's adventures in a town named Catharsis, following directly from the ending of the second game. Postal III was released for Microsoft Windows in December 2011. Ports for OS X, Linux, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 were announced, but ultimately canceled.[1][2][3][4]

Postal III
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)Akella
Writer(s)Steve Wik
SeriesPostal
EngineSource
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
ReleaseDecember 21, 2011
Genre(s)Third-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

Postal III, like Postal 2 before it, changes up the perspective, this time acting as a third person shooter as opposed to first person. The core of the gameplay is more linear and story-centric as opposed to the open world of 2, with mission-based objectives pushing the plot along. However, it retains the same sense of wild abandon action and combat the series is noted for.

There are two paths the player can follow depending on actions performed in the game, as well as how far the player's Karma Meter reaches; if the player wantonly attacks and kills innocent people, the Karma Meter will be affected, changing from yellow to red and guaranteeing the player goes down the "bad path," in which the plot and missions change accordingly, and which ends with text asking if the player is "disappointed" that they did not get to "waste them yourself?", telling them instead to take the "good path", which will allow the player to see the story through to its logical conclusion.

Plot

Postal III includes performances by a wide array of minor celebrities, including Ron Jeremy, Jennifer Walcott, and Randy Jones. The game also contains characters depicting Uwe Boll (director of the 2007 Postal film),[5] Sergei Mavrodi, Osama bin Laden and Hugo Chávez.

In Postal III, the Postal Dude emigrates to Paradise's sister town of Catharsis as he previously blew up Paradise with a nuclear bomb.[6] Due to the economic meltdown, the Dude drives into town and becomes stranded because he can not afford a tank of gas. He must then find work and do various odd jobs to escape the town.[7]

Through the course of the game, the player can choose one of two paths: the "bad path", which includes joining in on the schemes of Mayor Chomo and Uncle Dave, or the "good path", which involves the Dude joining the Catharsis Police force. The game plays out in a fairly linear and cinematic way, although the player's actions affect the outcome of the story and the game. Although the "good path" is more difficult to play, it offers more story line and a longer campaign.[8]

There are three endings to the game as Postal Dude must escape from the impending Venezuelan invasion with Hugo Chávez leading the charge.

  • Evil Ending: Escaping Carthasis by the skin of his teeth and leaving Chomo, Dave and Bin Laden at the mercy of Hockey Moms, Postal Dude winds up at the mercy of the law enforcement, who are quick to give him and his dog the death penalty for his slaughter. His appeal to heaven completely fails and Postal Dude is sent to hell.
  • Neutral Ending: Postal Dude succeeds in escaping Carthasis without resorting to murder or delivering swift justice and meets Jennifer "Jen" Walcott who tries to hijack his car but winds up marrying him instead and enjoying a honeymoon in Peru. He wins the lottery and has a bestselling book which details his personal view of the exploits in Postal 2 as Champ bites on the groin of the talk show host.
  • Good Ending: Saving the world from Hugo Chávez, Postal Dude become one of the most popular yet controversial heroes of American history. He winds up becoming the President of the United States with Jen Wallcott as his wife and head of Secret Service who winds up annoying both sides of the political spectrum. As he moves into the White House, a certain nuclear button sparks the inner psychopath within.

Regardless of the endings, the Postal Dude's final words are "I regret nothing!"

Release
A representative promoting the game at IgroMir 2010

The game was set to be released through the digital distribution platform Steam on December 20, 2011. However, the main release was delayed; some users were able to obtain the game through the GameFly storefront.[9] The game formally released on December 21.[10]

Reception

Postal III received "generally unfavorable" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[11]

GameSpot gave the game 3/10, while Game Informer also lambasted the game, giving it a score of 1/10 and saying that "the people behind Postal III don’t have the writing ability to back up their gutter-dwelling mouths. As it turns out, they also don’t have the design or programming chops to create a stable game. This makes it one of a handful of games to ever receive such a low score."[10][12]

In a much more positive review, QJ.Net stated that the game was "one of the most interestingly written, psychotic and harmful games I've ever played" and that the developers had "ended up with a product that looks good, sounds great and is often funny", but also complained that their "experience was marred with constant crashing and a lot of graphical glitches" as well as complaining that it often comes off as "mean spirited and lacking in heart".[15]

Original Gamer also gave a positive review, giving the game a rating of 7.5, deciding that it was "a good game, just not a great one". The reviewer praised its storyline, wide variety of weapons, and creativity while deriding the game's "linear level design and gameplay" and complaining that it takes "a while to get to the meat of the title". It also called out the game's use of good and bad paths, which he believed unfairly favoured the good path, deciding that the game "punishes you for being bad, by being bad itself". That said, it concluded by saying that the "fun is there in Postal 3, you just have to work a little for it."[16]

Developer reactions

In an interview about a month after release, Vince Desi, the head of Running with Scissors admitted that the "fan reaction has been mixed" to Postal III, as well as stating that most of the complaints centered around the game having "too many bugs." Desi acknowledged that it was hard for him to hear from "diehard fans and hearing their complaints", but did however emphasize that the developers have been "making updates to fix a lot of the problems" as well as stating that people who purchased the game at that time would have a "much better experience." He also commented that while Running with Scissors had "designed a very big challenging game with great variety", their development team and publisher "were under tremendous pressure and decided to release a different game, something that they could deliver." He did however note that he was "glad that the publisher has tried very hard to make the necessary improvements" following the game's initial reception. He also commented that they were committed to making "sure that gamers get the best value they deserve" from Postal III.[17]

On August 25, 2012 developer and Postal franchise owner Running with Scissors removed Postal III from their store, stating that it was "in the best interest of the Postal Community" and encouraged gamers to instead purchase their earlier titles, stating that they are "a far superior product for a lot less money".[18] This came after revelations that Running with Scissors' relationship with Akella had broken down and that they no longer had any real involvement with the future development of Postal III.

Running with Scissors explained the situation by stating that Postal III "was licensed to a Russian publisher and developer who were supposed to produce the game to our design, with a much bigger team and budget than we had for Postal 2. Even taking those facts into account, it didn't work out very well. It was a mistake and one we will not repeat." They also added that "after the disaster that was Postal III due to the mistake of outsourcing it, we have decided to make the next game 100% in house."[19]

A later interview with Running with Scissors employee Jon Merchant further clarified the situation, with him stating that "Akella had vastly more resources than we had for Postal 2, so it seemed reasonable at the time they could produce a game that was at least equal to the game we made inhouse. Things started out well but I think they got hit pretty hard by the economic problems of 2007-8, and it all started to go downhill from there. The final product was very far removed from our original design, and horribly broken." He also commented that "the game is a broken mess and should not be sold. We stopped selling the game ourselves some time ago when it became apparent that neither us or the community would get the SDK tools. We don't regard it as the third POSTAL game, just a dodgy spin off that should never have happened."[20]

Vince Desi summarized the situation in a 2013 interview by saying that "some deals work, some don’t, PIII failed for many reasons. Worst of all we lost control of the project and that was the beginning of the shitfest. Historically we had a great relationship with Akella, our Russian publisher, and for the record the folks there were good people and I consider them my friends regardless of the fiasco PIII ... Again, it is a testimony to POSTAL fans around the world who have shown their loyal support beyond all odds and hurdles that allows us to keep on going."[21]

In Postal 2: Paradise Lost, a 2015 expansion for Postal 2 developed by Running With Scissors, the events of Postal III were retconned as being part of a dream sequence the Postal Dude had; he accidentally crashed his car into a stop sign and entered an 11-year coma from the trauma.

References
  1. "Postal III - Interview with Running with Scissors". omgpcgames.com. May 3, 2008. Archived from the original on March 10, 2010. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
  2. The Source Engine On Postal III Is Still Coming To Linux Archived December 25, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Phoronix, February 13, 2011 (Article by Michael Larabel)
  3. Webber, Scott (March 26, 2008). "Running with Scissors - a GameZombie.tv Exclusive Interview". GameZombie.tv. Archived from the original on January 11, 2013. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
  4. Linde, Aaron (February 18, 2008). "Postal 3 Due Q2 2009 on PC, Xbox 360; PS3 Possible". Shacknews. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
  5. PC Gamer review Archived January 23, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Postal 3 First Impression Interview". VG Core. February 15, 2006. Archived from the original on April 16, 2008. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
  7. Callaham, John (June 16, 2010). "E3 2010 Interview: We get an update on Postal 3 from Running with Scissors". Big Download. Archived from the original on August 27, 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
  8. Georgiev, Vladimir (August 31, 2009). "Postal III - Interview". UGDB.com. Archived from the original on January 5, 2010. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
  9. "Postal 3's Scheduled Steam Release All Fudged Up, Gamefly Delivers". Voodoo Extreme. IGN. December 21, 2011. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012.
  10. Kollar, Phil (January 30, 2012). "Postal III Review: Offensive For All The Wrong Reasons". Game Informer. Archived from the original on April 13, 2013. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  11. "Postal III". Metacritic. Archived from the original on April 13, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  12. Watters, Chris (January 10, 2012). "Postal III Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 10, 2014. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  13. Meunier, Nathan (January 4, 2012). "Postal III Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  14. Blyth, Jon (March 21, 2012). "Postal 3 review". PC Gamer. Future plc. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  15. "PoV: Postal 3 review". QJ.Net. January 12, 2012. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
  16. "Postal III Review". Original Gamer. January 19, 2012. Archived from the original on January 22, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
  17. "Vince Desi von Running with Scissors im Interview". rebelgamer.de. January 20, 2012. Archived from the original on January 26, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
  18. "POSTAL III has been removed from our store". Running with Scissors. August 25, 2012. Archived from the original on June 29, 2013. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  19. POSTAL 2 COMPLETE - Steam Greenlight - Frequently asked Questions Archived March 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  20. Running with Scissors Interview, Our EXCLUSIVE interview with RWS! Archived April 2, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  21. Q&A INTERVIEW: RUNNING WITH SCISSORS INC. CEO VINCE DESI. Archived April 26, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
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